Horan International Airport (IATA Airport Code: NOC) more commonly called Knock International Airport (see Knock), is located near Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland. Passenger traffic was 199,000 in 2002, 250,000 in 2003 and over 370,000 in 2004.

The Airport opened for flights on 20 May 1986 following a long campaign by Monsignor James Horan. The airport was intended to bring employment to an impoverished corner of Ireland, as well as allow pilgrims to visit the nearby Roman Catholic Knock Shrine which commemerates an event in 1879, see Knock. The airport was voted Ireland's best regional airport in June 2004 by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.

In June 2003 hundreds of people gathered at Knock International Airport to view a Boeing 747 land with 500 returning pilgrims from Lourdes. The aircraft stood as high as the Airport`s Air Traffic Control tower. It was the second of its type to land since the airport`s establishment.

On 18 January 2005 Mrs Margaret Mary Hawksworth from Wilmslow, Cheshire became the 3 millionth passenger to have used the airport since it first opened in 1986 and arrived on a bmiBaby flight from Manchester.

Connaught Aero Club is also based at the airport and is a Registered Training Facility.

Irish songwriter Christy Moore wrote a comic song about the building of the airport [1] (http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/k/knock.html) declaring "I've never seen a miracle like the airport up in Knock".

Airlines and Destinations

The following scheduled airlines use Knock Airport (as at January 2005):

• Aer Arann to Dublin and Liverpool
• BMI baby to Birmingham and Manchester
• easyJet to London Gatwick
• MyTravelLite to Birmingham
• Ryanair to London Gatwick and London Stanstead

MyTravelLite launched their Knock to Birmingham service in March 2003 and celebrated 100,000 passengers on the route in April 2004. In March 2004 bmiBaby launched services to Manchester and Nottingham (East Midlands). Aer Arann launched their Knock to Liverpool service in June 2004. In January 2005 Ryanair and easyJet launched services from Knock to London Gatwick and bmiBaby launched a service to Birmingham.

Many holiday companies use Knock for chartered holiday flights. Destinations include Faro, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Malaga and Palma (Majorca).

Airport Data

The airport runway is 2300 metres long. The approach and runway lighting system is Category 1. It has full fire fighting capability Category 7. Height above sea level is 210 metres and the fog/weather diversion rate 1.9% (source: ICAA). Map Reference is Latitude 53 54' North, Longitude 09 49'.

External Links

• Knock Airport (http://www.knockairport.com/)
• Connaught Aero Club (http://www.connaughtaeroclub.ie/)

See Also:

• Airports of the World
• Knock